No opener. No preamble. People slowly filled the upstairs event space at the Ukrainian National Home in NYC, bathed in blue light, as a DJ played everything from Ukrainian folk music to early 2000s radio hits like Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten”. The audience cracked their BYOB beverages and waited.

Suddenly a white spotlight illuminated the stage and Iceage stepped on, took up their instruments, and with one drawling “New York!”, Elias Rønnenfelt launched into song. Within seconds, a pit opened up in the center of the floor and everyone pushed in closer, meeting his reaching hands as he lurched out over the crowd. He snarled, he crowdsurfed, he jumped and he spun as everyone in the room became drenched in sweat and assorted drinks. The only other words he spoke came as the band started to depart the stage, when he turned back and, with an impatient wave of his hand, said dryly “Should we just spare you? Encore?” and to raucous shouts and applause, the band returned and regaled the crowd with five more songs. It felt like one of those “you had to be there”, “right place, right time” shows that I’m excited to see happening more and more these days in New York. And that was only night one.

Night two saw the place packed to the gills. People crowded around the sides of the small stage looking as though they had heard how unmissable an experience night one had been. Kids in the pit howled until entirely breathless at the end of each song. Rønnenfelt wore a black shirt emblazoned with the large words “JESUS DIED FOR YOU”, often spinning with arms outstretched, clasping hands with moshers who reached out to touch him like The Creation of Adam. Guitarist Johan Surrballe Wieth shredded so hard that at one point, his butter-yellow guitar became spattered in blood in such a perfect, bright red design that it looked painted on. This time as they left the stage, many screamed “we love you!” A line formed at the side of the stage to take pictures of the bloody guitar.

And thus it was, Iceage’s two-night NYC run on their You Missed It tour. If you did miss it, surely they’ll be back, and you’ll want to make sure to be there when they do. I, for one, will never miss another show.

Iceage in New York City at Ukranian National Home August 1 photo by Casey Vange

Order tickets for Iceage HERE